Phase array antenna can be used in a variety of different wireless communication networks, and they can be used to enable steering of the transmission or reception in both the azimuth and elevation planes. Steering transmission and reception allows for an antenna array to direct the transmission or reception resources towards a particular location, which can increase the effective connection resources available to serve a given node. In mobile networks, that is networks designed to provide service to mobile devices, there is increased interest in beam steering as it allows for better concentration of connectivity resources to the locations that need them. A relatively large array is required in order to achieve desirable directivity. In conventional phased array design there is one phase shifter, delay line and/or amplitude control per array element. This increases both the cost and complexity of manufacture of the array. In order to reduce system complexity there is a need to reduce the amount of control circuitry. Sub-array antenna designs are used to group a small amount of array elements together and use only one phase shifter or delay line to drive the group of array elements. However using sub-arrays can result in grating lobes as well as reduce the array's steerability.
It is desirable to have an additional, alternative and/or improved phased array antenna design for communication systems.